Africa: Life Expectancy

Iain Wright: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development what action his Department is taking to increase life expectancy at birth in Africa.

Hilary Benn: DFID is working to increase life expectancy through a variety of activities including support for the provision of clean water and sanitation, large-scale immunisation and insecticide-treated bednets programmes and addressing related maternal mortality. Safe hygiene practice and improved access to clean water and sanitation are also vital for reducing child mortality. DFID produced the Water Action Plan in March 2004, and we will double our spending on water and sanitation to £95 million by 2007-08.
	In Nigeria we are providing £20 million to rebuild routine immunisation services and a further £80 million for malaria control. In Tanzania we continue to provide support for the social marketing of bednets as part of the national Insecticide Treated Net Programme, and in Sierra Leone we are designing a new long term Child Survival and Maternal Health Programme with the World Bank and national partners. In Malawi we are contributing £100 million over six years to the Government's essential health and human resource programme, and significant progress has been made on child survival through immunisation and malaria programmes. Similarly in Zambia we are major donors to the National Strategic Health Plan, which includes a focus on improving child health through expanded vaccination, curative care and improving access to services. In Kenya we are supporting a sector wide approach for the long term strengthening of the health system and improved service delivery. We have funded the development of a number of plans in human resources, procurement and financial management. We are also concentrating much support on the prevention of malaria, the major cause of mortality in children in Kenya. By the end of 2007 we will have spent more than £45 million on insecticide treated bednets and distributed 11 million nets, saving approximately 167,000 lives. DFID is indirectly supporting South Africa's efforts to reverse under-five mortality rates through the £30 million, five year HIV/AIDS Multi-Sectoral Support Programme (MSP). Our support to the Maternal Child and Women Health Unit in the Department of Health supports research in the area of Prevention of Mother to Child Transmission (PMTCT), the development of fertility options policy, and research on barriers to antiretroviral uptake among children and pregnant women.
	DFID continues to provide strong support to the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, TB, and Malaria (GFATM), and also played a central role in the International Finance Facility for Immunisation (IFFIm) which issued its first bonds in November 2006. This will disburse $4 billion over the next 10 years and is estimated will save 10 million lives, including five million children before 2015. DFID also recently pledged long term support to UNITAID, the International Drug Purchase Facility, starting with a £15 million contribution in 2007, to ensure poor countries benefit from lower prices for drugs to treat AIDS, TB and malaria.

Haiti: Overseas Aid

Mike Hancock: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development what his policy is on  (a) reducing the level of poverty in Haiti and  (b) cancelling Haiti's international debt; and if he will make a statement.

Gareth Thomas: Recognising that Haiti is the poorest country in the Western Hemisphere, DFID provides support through the wider international community's efforts to help lift Haiti out of poverty. Last year Haiti became a member of the Caribbean Development bank and in recognition of this DFID increased its contribution to the bank's low interest poverty-focused funds to just over £23 million, £3 million of which was earmarked to projects in Haiti. DFID officials recently met with four senior officials from the Haitian Central bank and the Ministry of Finance to discuss the type of poverty-reducing support and projects they would like the bank to provide in the future.
	Most recently we have placed a DFID staff member in the Canadian Development Agency based in Port-au-Prince. The objective of this post is, to improve the effectiveness of the international community's development assistance to Haiti, to coordinate the UK response to any humanitarian disaster and to facilitate the integration of disaster risk reduction activities into development and humanitarian programmes. The latter is key to reducing poverty in the long term as Haiti is particularly vulnerable to natural disasters, such as floods, which hit the poor the hardest.
	We believe we will have greatest impact on the international development effort in Haiti by helping to improve the effectiveness of the large amounts of foreign aid that are already available. Much of this comes from regional and international institutions such as the World Bank, European Commission, United Nations and Inter-American Development bank, of which the UK contributes sizeable shares to each. The weakness of Haiti's institutions, including the administration, and the country's history of turbulence means it is vital that all donors coordinate their activities and align their assistance behind the Government's own objectives for reducing poverty.
	The UK supports debt cancellation for Haiti as soon as possible. Haiti began to receive interim debt relief under the heavily indebted poor countries (HIPC) initiative in November last year. Its debt service payments have therefore already been considerably reduced. Haiti is now making progress towards completion point of the HIPC initiative when it will receive $140 million worth of debt cancellation (in 2005 net present value terms). At HIPC completion point, Haiti will also qualify for 100 per cent. debt cancellation at the World Bank and IMF under the multilateral debt relief initiative (MDRI worth a further $243 million (in 2005 net present value terms), as well as additional debt cancellation at the Inter-American Development bank (IADB).

Iran: Deportation

William Hague: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development what estimate he has made of the number of Iranians deported from Iran to Afghanistan in the latest period for which figures are available; and what assessment he has made of the humanitarian implications of these deportations.

Hilary Benn: According to United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) figures, between 21 April and 9 May a total of 54,187 unregistered Afghan refugees have been deported through the crossing points of Islam Qala (Herat province)—19,311—and Zaranj (Nimroz province)—34,876. An additional estimated total of 487 families have arrived in the Farah province.
	The deportations are taking place as part of a concerted drive by the Iranian authorities to curb illegal migration from Afghanistan to Iran. As such it can be anticipated that they will continue for several more months. The current deportation exercise seems to be concentrating on Iran's south eastern provinces, notably Sistan Baluchistan. To date UNHCR has not identified any significant incidence of registered refugees being deported from Iran.
	UNHCR reports that in general, the local authorities in Zaranj (Nimroz province) and Islam Qala (Herat province) are coping adequately with the influx. Sizeable deportations through these border crossings have been a regular occurrence for many years. The deportees are being accommodated in public buildings and tents. Water, sanitation facilities, and food are being provided.
	The humanitarian situation in the Farah province is of more concern. A recent joint mission of UNHCR, the United Nations Assistance Mission in Afghanistan (UNAMA) and the Norwegian Refugee Council (NRC) to Farah, established that families are being deported through an unofficial crossing point at Shaghali in the Farah province. They are currently being housed in temporary construction sites. It has been agreed that UNHCR, UNICEF and the World Food Programme (WFP) will provide initial assistance to the deportees of one month's food rations, non-food items, and family kits. The Afghanistan Independent Human Rights Commission (AIHRC) is also undertaking a mission to the border areas to collect information from the deportees on human rights and protection issues and to compile a report.
	While DFID is not directly engaged in providing humanitarian assistance to refugees in the Herat, Nimroz and Farah provinces, we are in close contact with UN agencies, and continue to monitor the situation closely.

Departments: Computers

John Spellar: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what  (a) instructions are issued to staff in his Department and  (b) technical procedures are in place to shut down computers at night.

Barry Gardiner: DEFRA places a high importance on energy efficiency measures and seeks to make savings wherever possible.
	 (a) Instructions to staff have been provided in a number of ways. As part of our 'big switch' energy efficiency campaign at the start of 2006, we combined online and poster messaging to inform and change staff behaviour to make sure all computers and other electrical equipment is switched off. Seasonal messages are broadcast on DEFRA's intranet to ensure staff turn off equipment over holiday periods. Information and instructions on energy saving measures appear on DEFRA's intranet and there are stickers on computer screens reminding staff to switch off their monitors.
	 (b) DEFRA is currently working on installing 'night watchman' technology with IBM, which will provide an automatic shut down operation for computers at a set time every evening. Energy saving measures are in place on printers which switch to standby mode after a 20 minute period of inactivity.

Departments: Official Visits

Mark Francois: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what the  (a) destination and  (b) purpose was of each overseas visit outside the European Union undertaken by staff in his Department in each of the last three months.

Barry Gardiner: From information held centrally, the core-Department's overseas visits outside the European Union in the last three months are listed as follows:
	
		
			  Country/purpose of visit  Number of trips 
			  Australia  
			 Clean Coal Conference and UK and Australia Energy Conference 1 
			 UNFCCC WORKSHOP 2 
			   
			  Canada  
			 Canadian Food Inspection Agency Meeting 1 
			 Carbon Capture and Sequestration Meetings 2 
			   
			  Cayman Islands  
			 Legislative advice to Cayman Islands Government on Convention on International Trade in endangered species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES) 1 
			   
			  China  
			 International Maritime Organisation Regional Workshop and Seminar on Ship Recycling 1 
			 Renewable Energy and Energy Efficiency Partnership (REEEP) meeting 1 
			 UNFCCC WORKSHOP 2 
			   
			  Iceland  
			 Climate Change Seminar 1 
			   
			  India  
			 7th Delhi Sustainable Development Summit 10 
			 India/UK workshop to launch phase II of the UK/ India project on impacts and adaptation 2 
			   
			  Indonesia  
			 ASEM (Asia-Europe Meeting) review 1 
			   
			  Japan  
			 EU Representation at UNFCCC Discussion 4 
			   
			  Kenya  
			 United Nations Environment Programme Governing Council—Nairobi 8 
			   
			  Mexico  
			 UK-Mexico Sustainable Development Dialogue meeting 2 
			   
			  Norway  
			 EU and Norway meeting on sandeel and North Norway haddock 2 
			 North Sea Basin Task Force and OSPAR meeting 1 
			 PECCOE (Permanent Committee on Control and Enforcement) meeting (sub committee of NEAFC (North East Atlantic Fisheries Commission)) 1 
			  Sweden  
			 Working group meeting for DG Environment Floods Action Plan stakeholder group 1 
			 WTO Sanitary and Phytosanitary Committee meetings 2 
			   
			  Switzerland  
			 Preparatory meeting for International Forum on Chemical Safety meeting 3 
			   
			  Thailand  
			 IPCC meeting for Working Group 3 of the IPCC 4th Assessment Report 2 
			   
			  United States  
			 UK representation at the Technical Working Group of the Global Bioenergy Partnership 1 
			 Attendance at the Waste Management Symposia in Tuscon, Arizona 1 
			 Climate Security Conference 2007 1 
			 Commission on Sustainable Development (CSD-15) Meeting 2 
			 EU Representation at UNFCCC Discussion  
			 Health Effects Institute Annual Conference 1 
			 Intergovernmental Preparatory Meeting of the United Nations Commission for Sustainable Development 1 
			 International Preparatory Meeting on the UNCSD negotiations on climate change and energy 7 
			 International Whaling Commission meeting 2 
			 IPCC Working Group 1 
			 Lobbying the executive directors of the Inter-American Development Bank (IADB) on the UK position on the clean energy investment framework (CEIF) 1 
			 OECD Workshop 1 
			 Responding to/dialogue with academic critics of the Stern Review—Washington DC and Yale University 2 
			 To attend the Coalition of Rainforest Nations 1 
			 To take forward the UK-Mexico Sustainable Development Dialogue 1 
			 UK-Mexico Sustainable Development Dialogue meeting 1

Departments: Sick Leave

David Simpson: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions how many people took sick leave for stress in his Department in the last 12 months; and what percentage of the total staff number this represents.

Anne McGuire: The absence data is taken from the Departments sick absence management report as at 31 March 2007 and covers the period 1 April 2006 to 31 March 2007. It includes staff whose sickness started prior to this period, and those who were still sick at the end of the period.
	Figures for the number of staff in the Department include all staff that have been employed by us during the year 2006-07 including those who have subsequently left us as they all had the potential to contribute to sick absence figures.
	The Department uses the International Classification of Diseases version nine, set out by the World Health Organisation to record sick absences. The group for recording stress is 'Depression, Anxiety and Other Mental Health Issues' and does include mental health illnesses other than stress for example: psychoneurosis, schizophrenia, anxiety, nerves, and depression.
	The Department has recently moved to a new resource management system. This new system enables us to capture information relating to absences for "stress". The new system was fully operational for all the Department's staff from April 2007. In the future this will enable us to report key information against this absence reason in a more accurate manner.
	
		
			   Number/percentage 
			 Number of staff taking sick leave for depression, anxiety and other mental health issues 10,079 
			 Number of staff employed in the Department during 2006-07 139,880 
			 Percentage of all staff employed in the Department during 2006-07 7.21

Independent Living Funds

David Laws: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions pursuant to the answer to the hon. Member for Cotswold of 27 March 2007,  Official Report, column 1496W, on independent living funds, what action was taken as a result of the theft; whether those whose personal data were stolen were informed; how many people's personal data were on the tape; whether those whose personal data were stolen have since been victims of identity fraud; when the theft was discovered and how long after the theft occurred the discovery was made; what type of personal data were stolen; and if he will make a statement.

Anne McGuire: Following the incident last year, the trustees of the ILFs' immediately instigated a full end-to-end review of IT security, as a precautionary measure. This review was carried out in consultation with experts in the field of IT and data security.
	All those whose personal data was contained on the stolen tape were informed of the incident in writing. The ILFs' also set up a telephone help line to help customers who had additional queries.
	The stolen tape contained the personal data of approximately 30,000 people, including all current customers of the ILFs', as well as ILF staff and a number of former customers of the funds, whose details are retained in line with strict data retention policies.
	To date, there has been no evidence to suggest that anyone has been the victim of identity fraud as a consequence of this incident.
	The theft, which involved a forced entry to a data transport and storage contractor's van, while the tape was in transit to the ILFs' office, occurred on 21 September 2006 and was discovered, reported to the police and notified to the ILFs' management in less than two hours.
	The exact amount of personal data stolen, varied from person to person but the range of data included names, addresses, dates of birth, national insurance numbers and bank account details.
	After receiving advice from a range of security professionals, the date of this incident was not made public. There was no information in the public domain to link the incident to the ILFs' and to release the date of the incident then, could have increased the risk of an attempt to access the data on the stolen tape.
	We consider that due to the length of time since the incident, the risk now of the data being compromised is low. Accordingly, the date of the incident has now been made public.

New Deal 50 Plus

Frank Field: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions how many participants there have been on the New Deal 50 plus in each month since it was created; and how many of these were completing the course for the  (a) first,  (b) second,  (c) third and  (d) fourth or more time.

Jim Murphy: New Deal 50 plus is a voluntary programme and participants receive advice and support to help them return to employment.
	The available information on the number of participants on New Deal 50 plus, and the number of times they have participated, is in the following table.
	
		
			  New Deal 50 plus 
			Of which, participating for the: 
			  Month  Number of participants  First time  Second time  Third time  Fourth time or more 
			  2004  
			 January 4,040 3,480 530 30 0 
			 February 7,140 6,170 910 50 0 
			 March 10,580 9,210 1,290 70 10 
			 April 13,090 11,370 1,620 90 10 
			 May 15,450 13,390 1,930 120 10 
			 June 17,730 15,370 2,200 140 10 
			 July 20,610 17,880 2,540 180 10 
			 August 23,120 19,990 2,930 190 10 
			 September 25,360 21,990 3,150 210 10 
			 October 28,480 24,710 3,510 250 10 
			 November 30,460 26,440 3,740 280 10 
			 December 32,300 28,040 3,970 290 10 
			  2005  
			 January 34,110 29,640 4,150 310 10 
			 February 36,110 31,450 4,330 320 10 
			 March 37,850 33,000 4,490 340 10 
			 April 39,770 34,670 4,710 370 20 
			 May 41,250 35,950 4,910 370 20 
			 June 42,520 37,070 5,030 400 20 
			 July 44,140 38,480 5,220 420 20 
			 August 45,300 39,520 5,330 430 20 
			 September 46,670 40,720 5,470 450 20 
			 October 47,770 41,710 5,570 470 20 
			 November 49,080 42,870 5,700 490 30 
			 December 50,150 43,840 5,790 500 30 
			  2006  
			 January 51,080 44,660 5,900 500 30 
			 February 51,920 45,420 5,950 520 30 
			 March 52,910 46,350 6,020 510 30 
			 April 53,430 46,820 6,050 520 40 
			 May 54,240 47,520 6,150 540 40 
			 June 55,000 48,200 6,220 550 40 
			 July 55,450 48,590 6,260 550 40 
			 August 55,790 48,920 6,270 560 40 
			  Notes: 1. Information on participants on the programme is only available from January 2004. 2. Latest data is to August 2006. 3. Figures are rounded to the nearest 10.  Source:  Information Directorate, Department for Work and Pensions

New Deal Schemes: Lone Parents

Anne McIntosh: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions how many lone parents on the new deal  (a) are in work-based training and  (b) he expects to be placed in (i) full-time and (ii) part-time work.

Jim Murphy: Lone parents on the new deal for lone parents (NDLP) programme can access work-based training through new deal for young people or new deal 25 plus contracts. They can also be referred to training through other contracted and non-contracted provision. Information on the number of lone parents on work-based training is not available.
	Since the programme started in October 1998, new deal for lone parents has been successful in helping more than 482,000 lone parents into work. Information is not available on whether these lone parents have entered full or part time work and projections are not made on whether lone parents entering work through the programme will enter full or part time work.

Regional Air Services

Danny Alexander: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport whether he plans to apply public service obligations to UK regional air services following the EU-US agreement on transatlantic air travel.

Gillian Merron: The Government's guidance on the protection of regional air access to London published in December 2005 sets out how we will interpret the criteria for imposing Public Service Obligations set out in European Regulations. It is for Devolved Administrations or regional bodies to apply for and make the economic case for a PSO.

Landing Slots: Airports

Vincent Cable: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what assessment he has made of the economic and environmental impact of the system of allocating landing slots at airports and alternatives to it.

Gillian Merron: The Government commissioned a study in 2006 on alternative ways of allocating landing slots from new capacity at airports. The report of the study is available on the Department's website.

East Coast Main Line

Anne McIntosh: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, if he will make a statement on the procedures for awarding franchises on the east coast main line. [R]

Tom Harris: Bids are evaluated in accordance with the European Foundation for Quality Management principles and consider he evidence contained in the bid and that available more widely to the Department.
	The franchise will be awarded to the bidder that provides best operational and financial deliverability and value for money to the taxpayer.

Rail Services: North-West

Michael Jack: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what steps his Department is taking to increase spending on railways in the north-west; and if he will make a statement.

Tom Harris: Rail services in the north-west have improved substantially as a result of investment in the west coast main line upgrade and the new high speed trains which now operate on the route. Future rail investment in this and other regions will be the subject of the high level output specification for rail which the Government will publish in July.

Departments: Internet

Theresa May: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport for which Government websites he is responsible; how many visitors each received in the latest period for which figures are available; and what the cost  (a) was of establishing and  (b) has been of maintaining each site.

Gillian Merron: The Department for Transport maintains 62 public-facing websites, including those run by the Executive agencies. 43 of these sites have been identified for rationalisation or closure as part of the website rationalisation programme under the Transformational Government Agenda.
	Tables have been placed in the Libraries of the House showing unique visitor numbers, costs of establishing each site and maintenance costs for the Department of Transport websites.
	Unique visitor data are not provided for all sites as the statistical software used on those sites do not produce this level of detail, only providing page requests rather than visitor data.
	Where setup costs are not available this is because the site was established several years ago and the information is no longer available without incurring disproportionate costs.
	Where annual maintenance costs are not available this is due to a number of reasons; either the site has only recently been available and maintenance costs are only applicable for the current financial year; the costs are part of a much larger contract and cannot be itemised; or the costs cannot be calculated without incurring disproportionate costs.

Departments: Olympic Games

Mark Hoban: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what his Department's first estimate was of the total contribution to be made from the departmental budget towards the costs of hosting the Olympic games; and what his Department's current estimate is of that cost.

Gillian Merron: The key transport projects integral to the Olympic bid and supported by the Department stand on their own merits and had been approved prior to the bid's submission. Following the announcement of a full budget for the delivery of the Olympics in March, my right hon. Friend the Chancellor of the Exchequer, is considering how that budget should be delivered in the context of the 2007 comprehensive spending review.

Driving Tests: Accidents

Paul Burstow: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport how many accidents occurred involving drivers taking the Driving Standards Authority driving test when they were  (a) reversing around a corner,  (b) performing a three point turn,  (c) parallel parking and  (d) performing an emergency stop in the last period for which figures are available.

Stephen Ladyman: During the financial year 2006-07, the Driving Standards Agency recorded:
	 (a) 14 accidents on the reversing around a corner exercise;
	 (b) Seven accidents on the three-point turn exercise;
	 (c) Four parallel parking accidents and
	 (d) 17 emergency stop accidents.

M1: Road Traffic

Greg Knight: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what steps he intends to take to reduce congestion on the northbound carriageways of the M1 motorway between junctions 25 and 26.

Stephen Ladyman: The M1 Junction 21-30 improvement scheme, which includes the northbound carriageways between junctions 25 and 26, will reduce congestion. The scheme will also improve safety and journey time reliability. Subject to satisfactory completion of the necessary statutory processes, construction is anticipated to begin between junctions 25 and 28 at the end of 2007 with completion expected in 2010.

Roads: Tolls

Jacqui Lait: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport 
	(1)  how much grant from the Transport Innovation Fund has been given to Transport for London to fund the study of road tolls at Greenwich;
	(2)  what  (a) advice and  (b) funding his Department has given to Transport for London to assess the impact on surrounding areas of a proposed Greenwich Road Toll, including the impact of diverted traffic and pollution.

Gillian Merron: The Department has not provided specific policy or analytical support to Transport for London (TfL) in relation to Greenwich, however it has published guidance that is available to any local traffic authority that might wish to consider road pricing in their area on how to appraise the impacts of potential schemes.
	The Transport Innovation Fund (TIF) is available from 2008-09 to support packages that address local congestion problems by combining investment in public transport with demand management, including road pricing. Pump priming money has been awarded to 10 areas to support the development of business cases. TfL has not received pump priming support and was not eligible to apply but may bid for substantive TIF along with other local authorities.

National Heritage Memorial Fund

Nigel Evans: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport how much national lottery-funded money has yet to be allocated by the National Heritage Memorial Fund; what that figure was in August 2006; how much the fund  (a) received from the lottery in 2006 and  (b) expects to receive in 2007; and what the investment returns for the fund from lottery funding were in (i) August 2006 and (ii) the latest period for which figures are available.

Richard Caborn: The following table shows the National Heritage Memorial Fund's (NHMF's) income from the National Lottery Distribution Fund (NLDF) for the financial years 2005-06 and 2006-07; for August 2006 alone, and estimated figures, based on the Department's latest income projections, for 2007-08.
	
		
			  National Heritage Memorial Fund 
			   Operator related income to nearest £1,000  Investment income to nearest £1,000  Total income to nearest £1,000 
			 Entire financial year 2005-06 230,631,000 39,704,000 270,334,000 
			 August 2006 19,401,000 2,319,000 21,720,000 
			 Entire financial year 2006-07 200,937,000 30,008,000 230,938,000 
			 Financial year 2007-08 (estimated) 205,833,000 15,667,000 221,500,000 
		
	
	The NHMF provides my Department with data on the level of unpaid lottery commitments at the final day of each quarter of the financial year. The closest figure to August 2006 that we have available is September 2006.
	On 30 September 2006 the NHMF's balance in the NLDF was £722,554,821. Its forward commitments including both contractually binding and 'in principle' commitments totalled £1,107,819,235. It was therefore over committed on its NLDF balance by £385,264,414.
	On 31 March 2007 the NHMF's balance was £660,163,116. Its forward commitments, including both contractually binding and 'in principle' commitments totalled £1,084,000,000. It was therefore over committed by £424,000,000.

Bankruptcy: Gloucestershire

David Drew: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry how many people in Gloucestershire were declared bankrupt in each year since 1997.

Jim Fitzpatrick: Regional insolvency statistics are only available on the basis of the locations of Official Receivers offices, each of which covers a group of county courts where the cases are heard and the courts having jurisdiction over these. It is not possible to provide bankruptcy statistics by constituency, county or Government Office Region. The following table provides the bankruptcy order statistics considered to be closest to those of interest?in courts with insolvency jurisdiction which themselves fall within Gloucestershire?but they should not be treated as reliable estimates for the administrative geography requested.
	
		
			   Cheltenham county court  Gloucester county court  Total 
			 1997 57 129 186 
			 1998 65 124 189 
			 1999 65 111 176 
			 2000 57 124 181 
			 2001 65 125 190 
			 2002 81 186 267 
			 2003 93 175 268 
			 2004 120 221 341 
			 2005 135 318 453 
			 2006 259 395 654

Construction: Payments

Mark Prisk: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry when he expects to publish his Department's plans to improve payment practices under the Housing Grants, Construction and Regeneration Act 1996 (Part II).

Margaret Hodge: The DTI is developing detailed proposals to improve the adjudication and payment provisions in Part II of the Housing Grants Construction and Regeneration Act 1996. My officials are due to meet representatives of the construction industry to discuss the proposals shortly. I intend to publish a consultation paper to follow up our previous joint consultation with the Welsh Assembly Government on "Improving payment practices in the construction industry".

Farmers: Bankruptcy

James Paice: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry pursuant to the answer of 1 May 2007,  Official Report, column 1564W, on farmers: bankruptcy, for what reasons bankruptcy figures for 2006 are not available by industry sector.

Jim Fitzpatrick: Bankruptcy statistics broken down by industry sector are routinely published one quarter in arrears of the headline figures. At the time when the answer referred to above was provided full year 2006 figures would not, therefore, have been available.
	However, further to this, development work is currently being undertaken to the section of the bankruptcy database that records industry classification to update it to the current standard for official statistics: SIC2003 (Standard Industrial Classification 2003). Statistics based on SIC2003 are expected to be available for new bankruptcy orders from July 2007. Complete, reliable statistics by industry for new orders from October 2006 to June 2007 are not available.
	For information, the numbers of bankruptcy orders and company liquidations recorded under "Agriculture" and made in the "first 9 months of calendar year 2006" in England and Wales were 129 (bankruptcy orders) and 28 (company liquidations)—the basis of these is consistent with the annual figures for 2001-05 provided in the answer to the hon. Member on 1 May 2007,  O fficial  R eport, column 1564W.

Post Offices

Andrew Rosindell: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry how many new post offices opened in  (a) 2004,  (b) 2005 and  (c) 2006.

Jim Fitzpatrick: The question the hon. Member has asked relates to operational matters for which Post Office Ltd. is directly responsible. Post Office Ltd. have provided the following figures relating to the number of post offices opened.
	
		
			  Number of post office branches opening 
			   Number 
			 2004 190 
			 2005 202 
			 2006 239

Post Offices: Essex

Andrew Rosindell: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry how many new post offices have opened in Essex since 1997.

Jim Fitzpatrick: The question the hon. Member has asked relates to operational matters for which Post Office Ltd is directly responsible. I understand that the information is not held at county level and the information is available only from 2002. Post Office Ltd have provided the following figures relating to the number of post offices opened for the East of England Region which includes Essex.
	
		
			  Number of post office branches opening 
			  From:  Number 
			 2002 185

Childline: Lancashire

Lindsay Hoyle: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills how many children in Lancashire contacted Childline in each of the last five years.

Parmjit Dhanda: ChildLine is operated by the National Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Children and the Government do not hold this sort of statistical data about the number of calls to the helpline.

Children in Care: Qualifications

Stewart Jackson: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills how many looked after children achieved  (a) five or more GCSE grades A*-E,  (b) two or more A-levels and  (c) entry to a higher education establishment in each local education authority in the Eastern region in each year since 1997; and if he will make a statement.

Parmjit Dhanda: We do not collect information about the numbers of looked after children who achieve 5 or more GCSEs at grades A*-E. However, data collected since 2000 and published in "Outcome Indicators for Looked After Children Twelve months to 30 September", show the percentage of children who were looked after for at least 12 months achieving five GCSEs (or equivalent) at grades A*-G by region. Data for the East of England is in the table as follows.
	
		
			  Percentage of children who were looked after for at least 12 months achieving 5 GCSEs (or equivalent) at grades A* to G ,  30 September 2000 - 06 ,  East of England 
			   Percentage obtaining at least 5 GCSEs (or equivalent) at grade A* to G 
			 2000 37 
			 2001 38 
			 2002 37 
			 2003 37 
			 2004 41 
			 2005 44 
			 2006 38 
		
	
	We do not collect data centrally on how many looked after children achieving two or more A levels or entering a higher education establishment.

Education: Young Offender Institutions

Anne McIntosh: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills what education is provided for juveniles aged between 10 and 17 years in  (a) young offender institutions,  (b) secure training centres and  (c) local authority secure children's homes; who provides the teaching; and for how many hours each week.

Phil Hope: The curriculum delivered to young people in custody is guided by "The Offender's Learning Journey (juveniles)" in young offender institutions (under the Learning and Skills Council's Offender Learning and Skills Service) and the National Specification for Learning and Skills in secure training centres and secure children's homes. It specifies a curriculum balance of approximately one third basic skills, one third academic or vocational subjects and one third physical education, arts, information and communications technology, and personal, social and health education. The learning is based on young person's needs to support progression to education, training or employment on release, alongside a daily literacy and numeracy session and an hour per month with a career guidance professional.
	In young offender institutions education is provided under the Offenders Learning and Skills Service (OLASS) contracts managed and funded by the Learning and Skills Council (LSC). The LSC contracts with further education colleges as well as private providers to deliver the teaching. Latest Youth Justice Board performance statistics for 2005-06 indicate that young people received an average of 28.24 hours per week of education, training and personal development activity, against a target of 25 hours a week.
	Secure training centres are privately run; two contract with further education providers to deliver their education, one contracts with a private provider and the other delivers education in-house. The latest YJB performance statistics indicate that 99.4 per cent. of young people received 30 hours or more per week.
	Teachers in secure children's homes are usually recruited directly by their local authority. Latest figures show that 79.9 per cent. of young people in secure children's homes received 30 hours or more education, training and personal development activity a week.

Pupils: Disability Aids

Annette Brooke: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills 
	(1)  what steps he is taking to ensure that disabled children and young people are provided with a wheelchair which meets their clinical, social and educational needs;
	(2)  what assessment he has made of the extent to which wheelchair assessments for children support the delivery of the five key outcomes envisaged by Every Child Matters;
	(3)  what guidance his Department  (a) has issued and  (b) plans to issue on the role of primary care trusts and local education authorities in jointly commissioning and resourcing wheelchair services for children and young people in line with Standard 8 of the National Service Framework for Children.

Ivan Lewis: I have been asked to reply.
	The Department for Education and Skills leads the cross-government programme Every Child Matters; Change for Children but it is not responsible for all aspects of policy on children. The Department of Health is responsible for the health of disabled children and for wheelchair services for adults and children. It therefore leads the Be Healthy strand of the Every Child Matters programme.
	The Department has made it clear that eligibility for services and support is for councils to determine in a locally consistent manner. We believe that local-decision making by councils is an important means by which local people have the opportunity to influence decisions about resources, charging and priorities.
	The Care Services Improvement Partnership (CSIP) report 'Out and About', which was published on 20 October 2006, highlights the importance of services being committed to standard 8 of the Children's National Service Framework (NSF). The Commission for Social Care Inspection (CSCI) will be referring to the best practice checklist, contained in the report, as part of their inspection process and will be specifically including wheelchair services.
	The Transforming Community Equipment and Wheelchair Services (TCEWS) programme is looking at how best to address the issues the services face through development of a new delivery model in collaboration with stakeholders. The Department for Education and Skills is working closely with us on this ongoing programme of work. We anticipate that the new model will be capable of implementation by April 2008
	The TCEWS programme was able to develop two potential models for wheelchair services in collaboration with users and their carers, seven wheelchair services, the wheelchair services managers and to refine the potential models with practitioners and suppliers. Further data is required before recommendations can be made for the way forward. A further data gathering exercise has been approved and an update will be provided in autumn 2007.
	As part of our commitment set out in the Children's NSF, we presented, on 16 April 2006, a new self-assessment tool for commissioners of children's and young people's health services. The tool will play an important role in ensuring that all commissioners are equipped and able to deliver improved quality and outcomes for services for children and young people.
	We are currently consulting on the Commissioning Framework for Health and Well-being which sets out how local commissioners can successfully commission services that improve health and well-being and help people remain independent. It also consults on a new duty for local authorities and primary care trusts to work together on a joint strategic needs assessment. This will outline current and predicted needs of the local population so providers can best promote the health and well-being, of their local populations, particularly those groups that currently get a poor response from services.
	Every Child Matters aims to improve outcomes for disabled children through better integration of services, at strategic and operational levels, including the pooling of budgets. The introduction of children's trust arrangements should see services coming together to provide more joined-up and coherent services and make a major contribution to the NSF standard eight vision for equipment provision.
	The Department does not collect centrally the average waiting times for children and young people under the age of 18 following assessment to receive a lightweight manual and a powered indoor and outdoor wheelchair in each of the last three years.
	The Department does not collect centrally the data for the percentage of children under the age of 18 years who met local eligibility criteria received a powered indoor and outdoor wheelchair within three months, six months and one year of an assessment in the last three years.

Schools: Contraception

David Amess: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills what the evidential basis was for the statement made by Ofsted in its report, Time for Change? Personal, Social and Health Education, that school nurses are providing an important service by offering the morning after pill to pupils; whom Ofsted consulted before making this statement; what recent representations he has received about the Ofsted report from  (a) parents,  (b) head teachers and  (c) organisations; whether his Department plans to reply to the report; how many copies of the report were (i) published, (ii) sold and (iii) provided free of charge by Ofsted; how many copies of the report were provided to his Department; at what cost to (A) his Department and (B) Ofsted; what discussions (x) Ministers and (y) officials have had with Ofsted about the report; if he will place copies of the report in the Vote Office; how members of the public may obtain the report; at what cost; and if he will make a statement.

Jim Knight: The Department has not received representations from parents, head teachers or organisations about this report. The findings of Ofsted are given careful consideration but the Department does not routinely produce formal responses to such reports. Ministers and officials have ongoing discussions with Ofsted about issues relating to PSHE.
	Matters concerning the distribution of this particular report, and the evidential basis for judgments within it, are for Ofsted. HM Chief Inspector, Christine Gilbert, has written to the hon. Member on these matters and a copy of her reply has been placed in the Library. Ofsted's report can be accessed via this link
	www.Ofsted.gov.uk/publications
	 Letter from Christine Gilbert, dated 2 May 2007:
	Your recent parliamentary question has been passed to me, as Her Majesty's Chief Inspector, for reply.
	You asked what the evidential basis was for the statement made by Ofsted in its report, "Time for Change? Personal, Social and Health Education (HMI070049)", that school nurses are providing an important service by offering the morning after pill to pupils; whom Ofsted consulted before making this statement; how many copies of the report were (i) published, (ii) sold and (iii) provided free of charge by Ofsted; how many copies of the report were provided to the Department; at what cost to (A) the Department and (B) Ofsted; how members of the public may obtain the report; at what cost.
	Our report states that:
	"school nurses can also provide a valuable service, particularly in terms of providing emergency hormonal contraception and advising on other forms of contraception".
	This is in line with non-statutory guidance published by the Department for Education and Skills (DfES). The DfES publication "Teenage Pregnancy Next Steps: Guidance for Local Authorities and Primary Care Trusts on Effective Delivery of Local Strategies" (2006) sets out the key findings from 'deep dive' reviews carried out by the Teenage Pregnancy Unit to identify factors responsible for the significant variation in performance between local areas, including between areas that are statistically similar. The guidance states:
	"Provision of young people focused contraception/sexual health services, trusted by teenagers and well known by professionals working with them". This was the factor most commonly cited as having the biggest impact on conception rate reductions in the high performing areas. Features of successful services reflected the "Best practice guidance on the provision of effective contraception and advice services for young people", issued by the Teenage Pregnancy Unit in 2000: easy accessibility in the right location with opening hours convenient to young people; provision of the full range of contraceptive methods, including long acting methods; a strong focus on sexual health promotion (as well as reactive services) through, for example, outreach work in schools, work with professionals to improve their ability to engage with young people on sexual health issues; and through highly visible publicity. Effective services also had a strong focus on meeting the specific needs of young men. All high-performing areas also had condom distribution schemes involving a wide range of local agencies and/or access to emergency contraception in non-clinical settings.
	Ofsted's own discussions with young people suggest they want and trust services in schools and welcome and recognise the commitment that schools show to meeting their wider health needs.
	The report is only available on the Ofsted website www.ofsted.gov.uk. It can be accessed at no cost to members of the public.
	A copy of this reply has been sent to Jim Knight MP, Minister of State for Schools, and will be placed in the library of both Houses.

Departments: Ministerial Policy Advisers

Andrew Lansley: To ask the Prime Minister who the health policy adviser is at Number 10 Downing street.

Tony Blair: Professor Paul Corrigan.

Electoral Administrators

Chris Mole: To ask the Minister of State, Ministry of Justice what discussions she has had with the Electoral Commission on performance standards for electoral administrators.

Bridget Prentice: I have met with Sam Younger, Chairman of the Commission to discuss performance standards. I have also formally responded to the Commission's consultation paper on developing registration performance indicators. A pilot of these is now well underway and the Commission intends to roll out a set of electoral registration performance indicators to administrators by December 2007.

Voter Registration

Clive Betts: To ask the Minister of State, Ministry of Justice what further steps her Department plans to take to increase voter registration.

Bridget Prentice: The Government are committed to increasing registration rates. The Electoral Administration Act 2006 has a number of measures to increase levels of electoral registration. These include:
	Imposing a new duty on Electoral Registration Officers to take all necessary steps to ensure a comprehensive register.
	Increasing the time available for registration by enabling people to register up to 11 days before the election.
	Introducing performance standards for Electoral Registration Officers. We expect the performance standard concerning electoral registration to come into effect by December 2007.
	The Government are currently evaluating the effectiveness of these new measures and keeps this area under review to identify initiatives that will further increase levels of electoral registration.

Administration of Justice: Females

Edward Garnier: To ask the Minister of State, Ministry of Justice when she expects to publish her response to Baroness Corston's review of women in the criminal justice system.

Vera Baird: The Government have given a broad welcome to the report. The 43 recommendations which it makes are wide-ranging and propose action by a number of different Government departments and organisations. We are carefully exploring the recommendations with all the departments and agencies concerned and will develop a detailed response as soon as possible.

Ballot Papers: Greater London

Andrew Dismore: To ask the Minister of State, Ministry of Justice how many and what percentage of ballot papers were spoilt  (a) in total and  (b) in each Assembly constituency at the last (i) London Mayoral and (ii) Greater London Assembly elections; and if she will make a statement.

Bridget Prentice: The following table shows the number and percentage of the rejected (spoilt) ballot papers at each constituency in the Assembly elections, and the total number for the election of the Mayor of London on 10 June 2004.
	
		
			 London Mayor 
			   London Assembly member: total rejected  Constituency Assembly member:  t otal rejected  1st choice:  t otal rejected  2nd choice:  t otal rejected 
			  Constituency  Number  Percentage  Number  Percentage  Number  Percentage  Number  Percentage 
			 Barnet and Camden 3,204 2.2 7,538 5.3 3,552 2.5 25,917 18.2 
			 Bexley and Bromley 3,207 1.9 5,766 3.5 3,765 2.3 25,987 15.8 
			 Brent and Harrow 3,697 2.9 9,141 7.2 4,334 3.4 26,356 20.9 
			 City and East 5,262 3.6 15,287 10.5 7,321 5.0 30,047 20.6 
			 Croydon and Sutton 3,166 2.2 6,727 4.8 3,675 2.6 22,062 15.6 
			 Ealing and Hillingdon 4,375 2.9 8,715 5.9 4,779 3.2 28,147 19.0 
			 Enfield and Haringey 3,116 2.5 7,953 6.4 3,746 3.0 23,052 18.6 
			 Greenwich and Lewisham 2,712 2.3 6,866 5.9 3,049 2.6 17,633 15.2 
			 Havering and Redbridge 3,638 2.7 7,271 5.3 4,028 2.9 22,554 16.5 
			 Lambeth and Southwark 3,471 2.8 10,248 8.2 3,794 3.0 19,647 15.8 
			 Merton and Wandsworth 3,134 2.4 6,993 5.3 3,425 2.6 21,509 16.4 
			 North East 3,521 2.5 10,698 7.7 4,375 3.1 22,854 16.4 
			 South West 3,018 1.9 6,969 4.5 3,692 2.4 21,957 14.2 
			 West Central 3,105 2.4 8,323 6.7 3,339 2.7 21,383 17.2 
			 Total 48,536 2.5 118,495 6.2 56,874 3 329,105 17.1

Ballot Papers: Greater London

Andrew Dismore: To ask the Minister of State, Ministry of Justice what steps she plans to take to ensure that in preparation for the elections for the London Mayor and Assembly  (a) the layout of the ballot paper is improved to reduce the risk of spoilt ballot papers and  (b) (i) scrutiny of spoilt papers by counting agents and (ii) decision making by the returning officer and staff is improved; and if she will make a statement.

Bridget Prentice: The Government have been working closely with the Greater London Returning Officer in the development of the updated rules for the conduct of elections to the GLA. As part of this process, the GLRO has undertaken a detailed study of the design of the ballot papers, including user testing of different possible formats (four for the mayoral election and two for the assembly). Equally, the work on developing the new GLA elections rules will specifically look at the provisions for counting of votes to maximise transparency of the count process. The GLRO will look at what training and support will need to be provided to each of the constituency returning officers to achieve consistency in the decisions on rejected ballot papers.

Electoral Systems

Oliver Heald: To ask the Minister of State, Ministry of Justice whether the Government have commenced its review of electoral systems in the United Kingdom.

Bridget Prentice: The review is under way in the Ministry of Justice and commenced after the May 2005 elections.

Freedom of Information

Dai Davies: To ask the Minister of State, Ministry of Justice how implementation of freedom of information (FOI) legislation will be carried out by the new Ministry; which Minister is responsible for implementation of the Freedom of Information Act 2000; how the Ministry plans to continue the consultation on FOI fees amendments initiated by the former Department for Constitutional Affairs; and if she will make a statement.

Vera Baird: Arrangements for the operation and maintenance of the Freedom of Information Act within the Ministry of Justice remain the same as those in the former Department for Constitutional Affairs (DCA). The right hon. the Baroness Ashton of Upholland remains the Minister responsible for Freedom of Information, reporting to the Secretary of State for Justice.
	The consultation on Draft Freedom of Information and Data Protection (Appropriate Limit and Fees Regulations) 2007, initiated by the former DCA will continue as planned. Responses to the supplementary paper and any further comments on the draft regulations contained in the full consultation paper are still invited by 21 June 2007.
	The Government remain committed to establishing a culture of freedom of information across the whole of the public sector, through advice, guidance and improved publication schemes.

Prisoners: Government Assistance

John Hemming: To ask the Minister of State, Ministry of Justice what  (a) financial and  (b) other assistance is available to prisoners on release after serving their term.

Gerry Sutcliffe: On release all prisoners that serve a custodial sentence of more than 14 days receive a discharge grant of £46.
	The Government are committed to ensuring that all prisoners are able to access resettlement programmes and practical support within the prisons and on release to effectively help them re-integrate back into the community.
	Our cross Government programme of work seeks to reduce re-offending by rehabilitating offenders so they are less likely to commit crime. This is being done by tackling the root causes of offending behaviour and working to reduce social exclusion. The priority is to ensure that offenders are able to access mainstream services and, in particular, have accommodation and sustainable employment on release.

Prisoners: Sexual Offences

Jeremy Browne: To ask the Minister of State, Ministry of Justice how many prisoners convicted of a sex offence were released under the Home Detention Curfew scheme in each year since 1999.

Gerry Sutcliffe: Information on the numbers of prisoners released from prison establishments in England and Wales on Home Detention Curfew for offences recorded as sexual in the years since 1999 can be found in the following table. The figures are taken from volumes of the Prison Statistics in England Wales for the years between 1999 and 2002, and volumes of the Offender Management Caseload Statistics between 2003 and 2005. Copies of these volumes are available from the House of Commons Library and at:
	http://www.homeoffice.gov.uk/rds/omcs.html
	These figures have been drawn from administrative IT systems. Although care is taken when processing and analysing the returns, the detail collected is subject to the inaccuracies inherent in any large scale recording system, and although shown to the last individual the figures may not be accurate to that level. As noted in the footnote to table 10.19 in the 2005 table, the reasons for recall from Home Detention Curfew are sometimes confused with the reason for the original imprisonment, and inquiries show that that is the case with the two sexual offenders in the table for that year. Further investigations suggest that around 5 per cent. of offence types recorded do not relate to the offence for which they were sentenced and subsequently released on Home Detention Curfew, but relate to offences committed after release from prison and before the licence expiry date for their sentence.
	
		
			  Prisoners released on Home Detention Curfew since 1999 who were serving sentences for sexual offences 
			   Number 
			 1999 24 
			 2000 29 
			 2001 17 
			 2002 20 
			 2003 8 
			 2004 6 
			 2005 2

Community Development: Stoke-on-Trent

Joan Walley: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government what funding has been provided for the Supporting People programme in Stoke-on-Trent in the last 12 months; and what funding will be provided in the next 12 months.

Phil Woolas: In 2006-07 Stoke-on-Trent received £5,097,375 Supporting People programme grant. In 2007-08 this allocation was increased by 7.5 per cent. giving a grant of £5,479,678. Stoke-on-Trent also received £330,816 Supporting People administration grant in 2006-07 and have been allocated the same amount in 2007-08 as a contribution towards the costs of running this programme. Communities and Local Government, as with most other departments across Whitehall, are currently in negotiation with Treasury regarding the future allocation of resources over the next spending review period. I am therefore unable to say, at this stage, what the Supporting People allocation will be for any local authority beyond 2008. However, both Communities and Local Government and Treasury attach a great deal of importance to this programme and will continue to support investment in supported housing.

Departments: Internet

Theresa May: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government for which Government websites she is responsible; how many visitors each received in the latest period for which figures are available; and what the cost  (a) was of establishing and  (b) has been of maintaining each site.

Angela Smith: I refer the hon. Member to the answer given to the hon. Member for Wealden (Charles Hendry) on 4 July 2006,  Official Report, column 958W, for the list of websites under the Department's responsibility, and the annual running costs of those sites. I further refer the hon. Member to the answer given to the hon. Member for Meriden (Mrs. Spelman) on 18 July 2006,  Official Report, column 306W, for the numbers of visitors to the Department's sites in 2005-06.

Electoral Register: Chorley

Lindsay Hoyle: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government what assessment she has made of the accuracy of electoral registration for the Clayton-le-Woods North ward of Chorley borough.

Bridget Prentice: I have been asked to reply.
	We are not able to make such an assessment.
	However, the Electoral Administration Act 2006 introduced a number of new provisions to ensure that electoral registers are now more accurate than ever before. These have included:
	Imposing a new duty on Electoral Registration Officers to take all necessary steps to ensure a comprehensive and accurate register;
	Increasing the time available for electoral registration to 11 days prior to polling day
	Introducing performance standards for electoral services.
	The Government are currently considering the effectiveness of the new measures and is keeping this area under review to identify initiatives that will further maintain the accuracy of the electoral register.

Ambulance Services

Christopher Huhne: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many and what proportion of emergency calls the Ambulance Service responded to within eight minutes in  (a) rural and  (b) non-rural areas in the latest period for which figures are available; and if she will make a statement.

Andy Burnham: Details of category A (immediately life threatening) calls in received in England during 2005-06, and details of those answered within eight minutes—split between rural and urban services—are shown in the following table:
	
		
			   Total category A calls  Response within 8 minutes  Response within 8 minutes ( Percentage ) 
			 England 1,641,230 1,235,769 75.3 
			  Of which:
			 Rural services 855,612 651,812 76.2 
			 Urban Services 785,618 583,957 74.3 
		
	
	Individual calls are not categorised as rural or urban. Until 1 April 2006, individual national health service ambulance trusts were classified as urban or rural. Details of which ambulance trust fell into which category can be found in the NHS publication "Ambulance Services, England: 2005-06", which is available in the Library.
	Audit findings have found reporting inconsistencies in some ambulance services, which means that the 75.3 per cent. figure for category A calls responded to within eight minutes ought to be treated with some caution, particularly when being used to compare performances against those in previous years. Again, more details can be found in "Ambulance Services, England: 2005-06".
	"Ambulance Services, England, 2006-07" is due to be released in June 2007.

Doctors: Manpower

David Laws: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many and what proportion of doctors were employed in  (a) trust grade and  (b) staff grade positions in each of the past five years.

Rosie Winterton: The information requested is shown in the following table.
	
		
			  Hospital and community health services (HCHS): medical and dental staff, showing staff grade and all trust grade staff( 1,2)  England at 30 September each year 
			  Number (headcount) and percentage 
			   2002  2003  2004  2005  2006 
			 All staff 77,031 80,851 86,996 90,630 93,320 
			  O f which:  
			 Staff grade 5,255 5,255 5,467 5,527 5,937 
			 Percentage of all doctors 6.8 6.5 6.3 6.1 6.4 
			 Trust grade staff (1,)( )(2) 0 1,266 1,287 3,600 2,591 
			 Percentage of all doctors 0 1.6 1.5 4.0 2.8 
			 (1) This figure is made up of all the Trust Grade staff from the following grades: staff grade, registrar group, senior house officer and house officer. (2 )Historically trust doctors or other similar locally employed non-standard grades, were included within numbers in various grades in the census and not identified separately. Due to concerns unexpectedly large increase in the number following an of senior house officers recorded in the 2002 census, steps were taken to enable NHS trusts to identify trust doctors separately in their census returns. Trust grade data should be treated with caution. Although specific codes for identifying trust doctors in the census have been made available, it appears that NHS organisations have not used these codes consistently.  Source: The Information Centre for health and social care medical and dental Workforce Census.

Heart Diseases

David Laws: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what the survival rates from  (a) heart attack and  (b) all cancers were in (i) the most recent period for which figures are available, (ii) 1997 and (iii) 1987.

Rosie Winterton: Data to enable assessment of survival after heart attack are not collected centrally. However treatment for heart attack has been audited since 2002 in England. This data indicates that in 2002 the 30-day mortality rate following treatment for heart attack was about 11 per cent. For 2006, the figure was about 9.5 per cent.
	Data source: Myocardial Infarction National Audit Project (MINAP)
	No assessment has been made of survival rates from all cancers for the periods in question.
	Information on one-year and five-year survival rates by individual cancer type is published by the Office for National Statistics. The information has been placed in the Library and is available of their website at:
	www.statistics.gov.uk/CCI/nugget.asp?ID=861&Pos=3&ColRank=1&Rank=374.
	The last published information covers patients diagnosed with cancer between 1998 and 2001.
	Compared with results for patients diagnosed during 1996-99, the five-year survival figures for patients diagnosed during 1998-2001 were around 2.5 percentage points higher for breast cancer in women and for colon cancer in both men and women. Survival for lung cancer increased slightly, by half a percentage point in men and by just over 1 percentage point in women. For prostate cancer, there was a rise of 6 percentage points, but much of this was due to the increasingly widespread use of prostate-specific antigen testing.

Junior Doctors: Training

David Laws: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many post graduate training posts there were  (a) in total and  (b) for GP positions for junior doctors in each year since 1997.

Rosie Winterton: The number of post graduate posts and junior doctors posts funded by the Department from the Medical and Dental Education and Training Levy (MADEL) form 2003-04 to 2007-08 are shown in the following table.
	
		
			  Number of MADEL funded posts, 2003-04 to 2007-08 
			   Number of posts 
			   2003-04  2004-05  2005-06  2006-07  2007-08 
			 Total posts funded from MADEL 35,878 36,833 37,427 37,611 39,326 
			 GP registrars and pre registration house officers funded from MADEL 2,402 2,726 2,911 2,902 2,902 
			  Notes: 1. 2007-08 MADEL figures include 351 SHO posts and 527 SpR posts that are rebased from service. 2. Due to changes in methodology, MADEL figures are not available prior to 2003-04.  Source: MADEL allocations data

NHS: Vacancies

Lynne Jones: To ask the Secretary of State for Health which clinical specialties are experiencing shortages of practitioners; and how she plans to take this into account in forming policy on training posts in the NHS.

Rosie Winterton: Forecasts of future work force supply at a national level (England) are undertaken by the Workforce Review Team (WRT) on behalf of the strategic health authorities (SHAs). Annual meetings are held by WRT with representatives from the SHAs, specialty, the Department and other key stakeholders to assess the present and future training needs of the work force. Annual recommendations to SHAs regarding future pre and post-registration training are produced following these meetings. Individual SHAs and deaneries are responsible for planning the medical training posts at local level, taking into account the analysis and recommendations of the WRT.
	WRT produces proformas for each specialty and profession it reviews. These are updated regularly and contain the evidence on which the recommendations are based. These proformas can be viewed at:
	http://www.healthcareworkforce.nhs.uk/workforcereviewteam.html
	It is the responsibility of primary care trusts and SHAs to analyse their local situation and develop plans, in liaison with their local national health service trusts and primary care providers, to deliver high quality NHS services and take action to recruit and train the appropriate staff required to deliver these services.

Non-resuscitation

Helen Jones: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what guidance has been issued to NHS trusts on the steps which should be taken before a decision not to resuscitate a patient is taken.

Rosie Winterton: The Department issued a circular in 2000 (HSC 2000/028) asking trusts to make sure that they have appropriate resuscitation policies which respect patients1 rights and to audit these policies. It has also endorsed guidance on making resuscitation decisions drawn up by the Resuscitation Council, British Medical Association and Royal College of Nursing for health professionals and the public.

Nurses: Pay

Brian Jenkins: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what the average nurse's wage was in each of the last 15 years.

Rosie Winterton: The following table shows average earnings per full-time equivalent nurse for each year since 1997-98. The figures are determined from pay bill data from financial returns and staff numbers from the workforce census. Data for years prior to 1997-98 is not available on a comparable basis.
	
		
			   Average pay for nurses (£) 
			 1997-98 20,760 
			 1998-99 20,972 
			 1999-2000 22,280 
			 2000-01 23,371 
			 2001-02 24,673 
			 2002-03 25,613 
			 2003-04 26,236 
			 2004-05 27,836 
			 2005-06 29,010 
			 2006-07 (1)30,507 
			 2007-08 (1)31,826 
			 (1 )Figures are estimated projections and are subject to change.

Smoking

Anthony D Wright: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what estimate she has made of the likely impact of the ban on smoking in public places on cancer rates.

Caroline Flint: No estimate has been made specifically on the likely impart of smokefree legislation on cancer rates.
	The Government's independent Scientific Committee on Tobacco and Health has concluded on the basis of an extensive review of medical and scientific evidence that there is an overall 24 per cent. increased risk of lung cancer in non-smokers exposed to secondhand smoke. In March 2005, the  British Medical Journal published a research paper by Professor K. Jamrozik suggesting that across the United Kingdom, exposure to secondhand smoke in the workplace is to be responsible for the deaths of more than two employed people per working day, 617 deaths a year. Of this number, the research attributed 160 deaths from exposure to secondhand smoke to lung cancer (a copy of this article is available in the Library).
	While the primary aim of smokefree legislation is to protect employees and members of the public from the harmful effects of secondhand smoke in enclosed workplaces and public places, the Department also anticipates that many smokers will be motivated by the implementation of the new law to quit smoking. The Department estimates that the new smokefree law might reduce smoking prevalence among the general population in England by around 1.7 percentage points, or an estimated 600,000 people.
	While smoking is closely related to lung cancer with 87 per cent. of all deaths from lung cancer being attributable to smoking, smoking is also a cause of other types of cancer including cancers of the oesophagus, bladder, kidney, stomach and pancreas. The expected reduction in smoking prevalence from the implementation of smokefree legislation will help to reduce rates of smoking-related cancer.

Wheelchairs: Children

Annette Brooke: To ask the Secretary of State for Health 
	(1)  what assessment she has made of the extent to which NHS eligibility criteria for the provision of wheelchairs and mobility equipment supports the delivery of the five key outcomes envisaged by Every Child Matters;
	(2)  what guidance is being produced to support the role of primary care trusts and local education authorities to jointly commission and jointly resource wheelchair services for children and young people in line with Standard 8 of the National Service Framework for Children;
	(3)  what steps she is taking to ensure that disabled children and young people are provided with a wheelchair which meets their clinical, social and educational needs;
	(4)  what the average waiting times were for children and young people under the age of 18 years following assessment to receive  (a) a lightweight manual and  (b) a powered indoor and outdoor wheelchair in each of the last three years;
	(5)  what percentage of children under the age of 18 years who met local eligibility criteria received a powered indoor and outdoor wheelchair within  (a) three months,  (b) six months and  (c) one year of an assessment in the last three years for which figures are available.

Ivan Lewis: The Department for Education and Skills leads the cross-government programme Every Child Matters; Change for Children but it is not responsible for all aspects of policy on children. The Department of Health is responsible for the health of disabled children and for wheelchair services for adults and children. It therefore leads the Be Healthy strand of the Every Child Matters programme.
	The Department has made it clear that eligibility for services and support is for councils to determine in a locally consistent manner. We believe that local-decision making by councils is an important means by which local people have the opportunity to influence decisions about resources, charging and priorities.
	The Care Services Improvement Partnership (CSIP) report "Out and About", which was published on 20 October 2006, highlights the importance of services being committed to standard 8 of the Children's National Service Framework (NSF). The Commission for Social Care Inspection (CSCI) will be referring to the best practice checklist, contained in the report, as part of their inspection process and will be specifically including wheelchair services.
	The Transforming Community Equipment and Wheelchair Services (TCEWS) programme is looking at how best to address the issues the services face through development of a new delivery model in collaboration with stakeholders. The Department for Education and Skills is working closely with us on this ongoing programme of work. We anticipate that the new model will be capable of implementation by April 2008.
	The TCEWS programme was able to develop two potential models for wheelchair services in collaboration with users and their carers, seven wheelchair services, the wheelchair services managers and to refine the potential models with practitioners and suppliers. Further data is required before recommendations can be made for the way forward. A further data gathering exercise has been approved and an update will be provided in autumn 2007.
	As part of our commitment set out in the Children's NSF, we presented, on 16 April 2006, a new self-assessment tool for commissioners of children's and young people's health services. The tool will play an important role in ensuring that all commissioners are equipped and able to deliver improved quality and outcomes for services for children and young people.
	We are currently consulting on the Commissioning Framework for Health and Wellbeing which sets out how local commissioners can successfully commission services that improve health and well-being and help people remain independent. It also consults on a new duty for local authorities and primary care trusts to work together on a joint strategic needs assessment. This will outline current and predicted needs of the local population so providers can best promote the health and wellbeing of their local populations, particularly those groups that currently get a poor response from services.
	Every Child Matters aims to improve outcomes for disabled children through better integration of services, at strategic and operational levels, including the pooling of budgets. The introduction of children's trust arrangements should see services coming together to provide more joined-up and coherent services and make a major contribution to the NSF standard eight vision for equipment provision.
	The Department does not collect centrally the average waiting times for children and young people under the age of 18 following assessment to receive a lightweight manual and a powered indoor and outdoor wheelchair in each of the last three years.
	The Department does not collect centrally the data for the percentage of children under the age of 18 years who met local eligibility criteria received a powered indoor and outdoor wheelchair within three months, six months and one year of an assessment in the last three years.